Love at First Sight
by Kiarene
Summary: Love at first sight doesn’t happen, does it? A little drabble. 13x5


**Title:** Love at First Sight  
**Author**: Kiarene  
**Pairings:** 5x13, 5x1, 5xM  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Love at first sight doesn't happen, does it? A little drabble.  
**Warnings:** Angst.  
**Published:** 14th Feb 2006  
**Disclaimer:** Gundam Wing and its characters are registered trademarks of Bandai Entertainment IncTM and Sotsu Agency.

**A/N:** Er. I know it's Valentines and all that, but the muse was feeling rather angsty suddenly.

**Love at First Sight**

Love at first sight doesn't happen, does it?

I know all about love, I had thought. I am a scholar after all. I've read all the classics, the philosophical treatises, and, embarrassingly enough, even the trashy romances my wife thought I would not find tucked in the corner of her bookshelf.

I married Merian, my wife, because of familial duty. I was just a kid then, I didn't know any better. I threw a tantrum and sulked, but in the end, I married her and grew to be fond of her. Our marriage was nothing spectacular, no deep abiding love or fluttery hearts, but I supposed it would have worked if her young life hadn't ended so abruptly.

When the war erupted upon us, I pushed all thoughts of romance and love out of my mind; I was instead consumed by thoughts of justice and vengeance. But one evening, I was approached by the other pilots — Maxwell, Barton and Winner — with a startling proposition.

Yuy, it turned out, was attracted to me. Normally they might have just left it alone, for we had more weighty matters to worry about that adolescent crushes, but it seemed that the Perfect Soldier's performance on the battlefield had been somewhat lackluster of late.

Perhaps it was due to his ...attraction, they suggested.

I was skeptical.

Yuy was raised and trained to be the so-called Perfect Soldier. Just a killing machine. But Yuy was also just a teenage boy. Winner was afraid he would not be too distracted to fight properly. Maxwell was blunter; he said they were worried Yuy might lose it. Repressed emotions and all that rot.

It was disquietingly plausible when I thought about it. And it was an easy logical leap to know what they were proposing.

So I became Yuy's lover. Or should I say Heero?

It was not as difficult as I thought. He was good looking, young and fit. Sex was enjoyable, as we became more comfortable with each other. Unlike Meiran, he was quiet and gave me my space. As a roommate, he was neat and unobtrusive. Along the way, we discovered many mutual interests and got along well together. Really, compared to my marriage, this was easy.

Once more, I had entered into a relationship out of duty. But it wasn't as big a hardship as one might think. I wasn't _forced_ into them, and I soon grew fond of my partners. It was necessary, both times, and moreover, the companionship was satisfying.

Then I met him. Trieze Khushrenada.

He was the man responsible for the deaths of my clan, my family. When I first saw him, my heart leapt, in fury, I had thought. We fought and I lost. Yet before he delivered the finishing blow, he paused, looking at me. My heart was racing, every nerve lit afire. And then he let me go.

We crossed blades again, and again. I had told myself it was for vengeance, that I only came back to defeat him. To kill him.

I was woefully unprepared for the maelstrom of emotions that swept me up.

* * *

Dawn broke, gentle but unwelcome rays of amber that managed sneak past the dark drapes as they fluttered lightly. The morning air was chill, and the movement only sent me burrowing further under the warm blankets. 

Sturdy arms wrapped around my torso, tugging me closer. For a few moments, I curled towards him. Then, common sense returned. Reluctantly, I sat up and the sharp, cold air soon chased away any lingering somnolent fantasies I had been entertaining.

I had to leave.

This was the reality.

"Good morning," Trieze murmured, his voice low and husky with sleep.

I looked at the man to my side. He lounged lazily against the pillows but his eyes were awake. Even now, he still had the same ability to take my breath away, as he did when I first saw him. Was it love at first sight?

Enemies across a battlefield; fate was certainly against us. How could it be that emotion love? But if despite that, despite our history and our gender, despite the animosity that drove me and the duties that shackled us, stripped to the bare, we were still here…

What remains? What binds us?

"Aa," I breathed, and, unable to help myself, leaned in for a kiss. His strong fingers carded through my hair, sliding and clinging as if he could hold me back, but—

"I have to go."

"I know." His fingers caressed my bare shoulders briefly, and then fell away.

Before I could procrastinate further, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and reached for my clothing, rumpled in a pool beside the bed. Not for the first time, I wonder how it would be to have more than hurried stolen moments.

"Would you stay?"

Stay? I thought of the war, of Nataku. I thought of my comrades, of Heero. Of duty.

And I thought of Trieze, of passionate nights and tender mornings, of love.

Slowly, I buttoned up my shirt. "Would you leave?"

In the silence that followed, I finished dressing. Standing up, I strode over to his dresser, checking and smoothing down my creased clothing as best I could. Finally, I took out a band from my pocket and tied my hair back.

Turning back to face him before I left through his balcony, I could only repeat the promise we clung to, by way of farewell. "After the war…"

I hadn't really believed in it, hadn't really believed that the war would ever end.

But then, I hadn't believed in love in first sight as well.

End

* * *


End file.
